About Joseph Marioni

Joseph Marioni’s monochrome paintings, with their super-saturated “liquid light” surfaces, embody deep complexities and a visceral intensity. Marioni believes that color “is the most direct instrument of painting,” and uses rollers, palette knives, and even his fingers to apply multiple layers of paint and create naturally flowing surfaces. His titles are deceptively simple; Blue Painting (1995), for example, is built through layers of superimposed black, ultramarine, transparent, and reddish-blue paint. Marioni’s work speaks to both Minimalist and Conceptualist sensibilities, yet is ultimately a pure celebration of light, tone, and process.